Numerous retailers allow customers to order personalized products using an online store. In general, to personalize a product, an online customer enters the desired characters and/or symbols in an online form. Personalized products include, by way of non-limiting example, products that contain or are monograms or an individual's name, and products that contain an individualized message, a saying, and meaningful symbols. The online store may not, however, display the personalized product so that the customer may preview an image of what will be the actual, physical personalized product. The personalized product is generally built on some additional support material, such as a bar-shaped object, or a round-shaped or heart-shaped frame. Additionally, a template may predefine a position and orientation of the letters and symbols. Further, the customer may only be shown a two-dimensional static image on a computer screen of an example of what a personalized product could look like. Generally, the customer is not shown what the final piece will look like as an actual product or on a representation of an actual product with the personalized characters and/or symbols.
Once a personalized order is submitted, a graphic designer may work with a two-dimensional software product to create an outline of the personalized product. Once done, the graphical representation of the product will be used in manufacturing the product by a laser cutting process or an embossing process by way of non-limiting example.
A disadvantage of the current state of the art of designing and manufacturing personalized products is the lack of scalability with respect to the volume of products that may be designed and manufactured in a given time period, exemplified by the need to have a graphic designer involved in the process. Another disadvantage is that typically the personalization is in a fixed position of the product (e.g., a name engraved horizontally on a pendant) according to a predefined template, so that each letter or symbol occupies a specific absolute and/or relative position and orientation on the final product. Another disadvantage is that the letters or symbols cannot be individually scaled in size, rotated, or translated. A further disadvantage is that the retail price of the product may be determined without knowledge of the font type, the length of the personalization, or amount of material needed for manufacturing the product. For example, the actual cost of a metal used to manufacture two jewelry pieces having characters of the same size, one in the shape of the name Ann and the other in the shape of the name Christianna, will differ; whereas the retail price to the customer may not.